Perhaps you are familiar with this parable concerning the difficulties of affirming both man’s free will and God’s all-encompassing sovereignty.

A sign above the door to Heaven boldly proclaims “Whosoever will may come!” However, once through Heaven’s gates, an astute observer will notice that the flip side of the sign says, “Only those predestined before the foundation of the world may enter.”

There is more than a little truth to this parable. The first sign deals with salvation from man’s perspective. To the awakened sinner, the first sign gives hope that if he will but look, he will live. Calvinism pulls the curtain back on the awakened sinner’s soul and sees God’s Spirit at work in regenerating the sinner, and granting him repentance and faith, due to the second sign.

As I see it, Calvinism deals mostly with what goes on behind the scenes, so to speak, in respect to salvation. But let me stress that Calvinism is not prying into secret areas of God’s will. No, Calvinism responds to numerous Scripture texts. While they don’t claim to understand everything, Calvinists are bound to believe the five points due to their regard for Scripture. This is not something they enjoy “making up from thin air” so to speak.

A proper understanding of man’s part and God’s part in salvation will do much to help us sort through the sticky issues surrounding Calvinism and evangelism. Historically, some Calvinists (hyper Calvinists, actually) have claimed that we have no responsibility to evangelize since God will irresistibly draw His elect with or without our help. Furthermore, they have claimed that we cannot confidently tell anyone necessarily that if they will but believe and come, that they will be saved. Such hyper Calvinists, then, denied the first sign.

So it is due to extremists from within their own theological system, that Calvinists face such intense suspicion at times. Many people sincerely doubt that Calvinists believe in evangelism. And many go beyond doubt and actually claim that Calvinism will negatively impact evangelism.

But such claims are so utterly wrong! Historically, some of the greatest evangelists and missionaries, some of the most evangelical of pastors have been 5 point Calvinists. Names like Jonathan Edwards, George Whitfield, Charles Spurgeon, William Carey, Adoniram Judson and many, many more could be given. In fact many missionary movements and revivals have been started in large part due to the work of Calvinists.

History aside, if one understands that Calvinism addresses the “behind the scenes” actions of God (God’s part), he will not see any contradiction between Calvinists rushing to do man’s part (evangelism). For Calvinists believe that every sinner who would be saved, must actually believe, and he must do this himself. Furthermore, we understand Scripture to clearly teach that no one gets saved apart from the gospel, and almost always people must be involved in spreading that gospel.

So for Calvinists, evangelism is about obeying God. And yet it is more. It is about joining God in His mission. It is about spreading God’s glory among the nations for His sake. Calvinists are encouraged that God is the one ultimately responsible for results. This gives us hope to minister in many contexts that might not provide immediate results, from man’s perspective.

There is one other point to stress here. Calvinists tend to understand salvation as a “work in progress”. It is that “work” which God has started in us and promises to complete. And so for the Calvinist, mere human decisions are not the goal of evangelism. Numbers of noses, and baptism tallies mean little. Calvinists see discipleship and spiritual growth as the goal of evangelism. [This is not to say that all non-Calvinists disagree with us here, by the way.] I say this because when numbers are expected, many a Calvinist might fail the test. But to a Calvinist, numbers aren’t the most important thing.

I hope what I have said makes sense and helps work toward an understanding of where Calvinists stand in relation to evangelism. And if it doesn’t I have several articles here from the last few weeks, which will help you really understand this issue. I provide them, because it was partly by coming across these that I was motivated to write this post.

It’s true that fundamentalists agree that discipleship is the ultimate goal, but their intentions are undermined by the often shallow response to an often shallow presentation of the gospel. That’s why Calvinists may lose the “numbers game.” Lay a purely Calvinist presentation of the gospel up against a typical fundamentalist presentation and you can tell that it requires a longer attention span. A fundamentalist presentation may have a quicker turn around, but percentage wise, I dare say it also has a high turnover rate.

If you can’t get folks to come back to church, you can’t get them discipled–unless, of course, you’re willing to regularly go to them, which requires sacrifice. But this may seem an impractical task to a fundamentalist whose racking up so many “decisions.”

Speaking generally, while fundamentalists are in it for the short term decision, the Calvinist is in it for the long term disciple.

Itâ€™s true that fundamentalists agree that discipleship is the ultimate goal.

Speaking generally, while fundamentalists are in it for the short term decision, the Calvinist is in it for the long term disciple.

Anyway, I generally agree with you. Trying telling your average Fundamentalist that “teach” is the only imperative in the Great Commission. You’ll get laughed at and they’ll tell you to go study or something.

Calvinists have no reason to be persuasive with evangelism, because they believe in Irisistible grace. Calvinists believe that regeneration is first required before someone can believe, and that this regeneration is irresetibly and divinely caused by God. According to the Calvinist, it is a direct act on the non-believers’ heart.
Hence, once you have told the good news, there is no need to be persuasive. Furthermore, there is no need for follow-up (except for growing) for the Calvinist, because of the Calvinistic belief in “perseverence of the saints”.

You’re welcome to disagree. God gives the increase, and he wants us to do all things so that we might save all. We are to follow the commands of Scripture about loving others, having discernment, being patient, giving ourselves in evangelism, etc. We are to follow Paul’s example of evangelism. Calvinists agree.

Your points are all conclusions you think Calvinism leads one to. But they are not necessary conclusions. The Calvinistic belief in the perseverance of the saints is no license for not following up at all. Heb. 3 teaches clearly our need for brotherly admonishment. That believers persevere, is a challenge for me to be persevering. It’s all of God, but if His work in me is genuine, I will be persevering. Perseverance is no easy believism nor once saved always saved flippant view of salvation.

I challenge you to explore what Calvinism really teaches. Explore some of the links my blog gives. At the least, agree to disagree charitably with us and don’t insinuate we don’t care about evangelism. We do.

[…] Whitfield, Charles Spurgeon, William Carey, Adoniram Judson and many, many more could be given.Â (Fundamentally Reformed) In Calvin’s day, Geneva became a great center for church planting, evangelism and even […]

[…] the cross, but the cross-work was not performed on the behalf of all, but only for the elect. (This does not mean we should not preach to all, since we have no way of knowing who the elect are. Hyper-Calvinists are the ones who do not preach […]

After studying Calvinism for some time, I have found that it is unbiblical. I would like to just give you something to think about. Wayne Jackson, in his article “Calvinism and the Great Commission”, describes the problem much better than I ever could. Here is part of what he says:

“The Calvinist theory goes something like this:

Humanity, by virtue of its fall in Adamâ€™s â€œoriginal sin,â€ lost its ability to make spiritual choices. Accordingly, when one is exposed to the gospel of Christ, no matter how sincere he might be, in his depraved condition he cannot believe itâ€”however hard he may want to, or try.

The sinner is utterly helpless to believe, unless God, by means of a direct operation of the Holy Spirit, opens his heart and empowers him with the â€œgraceâ€ to believe. Upon whom does God decide to pour out this life-changing power? Only those whom he â€œelectedâ€ before the foundation of the world!

These fundamental premises of Calvinism bring us back to the primary question posed earlier. If a personâ€™s salvation was decreed before the foundation of the world, and there is nothing that can be done to alter that, what is the purpose of preaching the gospel to the whole creation when: (a) it would be impossible for the whole creation to believe; (b) the fate of all people already has been â€œsetâ€ (in predetermined theological â€œconcreteâ€ so to speak)?

The truth of the matter is, the doctrine of Calvinistic predestination makes void every command of God, offers no hope to the obedient, and nullifies every warning of eternal punishment. It leaves those who know they are lost with a sense of hopelessness. It provides no confidence of salvationâ€”for one would have no way of knowing whether he is saved or lost. It leaves those who believe they are saved with a false sense of security, laboring under the illusion they never can be lost, no matter what they do. It is thoroughly false and must be renounced by conscientious Bible students.”

You are misunderstanding what Calvinism teaches. See my “Calvinism” tab above for my explanation. You’ll note that perseverance of the saints is not a license to sin, and it is not a once-saved-always-saved equivalent position necessarily, either. Calvinism describes what happens “behind the scenes”, we obey God’s command to evangelize because God commanded it, not because of some assumed potential to see anyone saved we want to. How do you explain passages like 2 Tim. 2:24-26 in your system?

Why is it that whenever people post objections to Calvinism, they preface it by stating how well they have thoroughly studied the system, and then proceed to demonstrate that they, indeed, have not.

‘Anonymous’ – I don’t think your problem is with Calvinism so much as with Orthodox Christianity. (1) Do you not believe men are born in slavery to sin? (2) Do you believe men have the inherent capacity to do everything Scripture commands? (ie love God with ALL our heart, mind, soul, and strength).

In regards to evangelism, you seem to be taking a purely pragmatic approach. Is the only reason to preach the gospel to increase our numbers? Shouldn’t we also do it (1) to glorify God, and (2) out of love for the gospel (how can we not but tell the things we’ve seen and heard), and (3) in obedience to Christ’s command? In fact, Jesus preached to very large crowds, most of whom did not believe what he taught. Did He not know this in advance? If He did, was he wasting His time?

[…] I am in the middle of reading a magesterial work on definite atonement titled, From Heaven He Came and Sought Her (Crossway, 2013). The book explains and defends the most misunderstood “point” of Calvinism: limited atonement (better described as definite atonement or particular redemption). In this book I came across a simple and extremely clear quote by John Calvin on why the doctrine of election should not squelch our evangelism. I share the quote below, but if you want to explore this topic more, see my post “Calvinism & Evangelism. […]

Why would a God-fearing Calvinist ever think that true evangelicals are interested in “numbers.” True evangelicals (not your stereotype) believe in soul winning to rescue the souls of men. That’s why we do it. I don’t do it to be found obedient. I don’t want to be found standing on the bank with my fishing pole in hand telling Jesus at His return: “Look at me, I’m being obedient!” No. I want to catch fish for Jesus. He promised that if I would follow Him, He would make me to be a “fisher of men.” Until you’ve caught fish for Jesus, don’t lecture those of us who are out there desperately trying to rescue the souls of men. Yes, my gospel is man-centered because God’s gospel is man-centered. The gospel isn’t intended to vindicate the sovereignty of God. Just who do we think we are? God needs no vindication from you or I. He needs “fishers of MEN.” So yes, my gospel is man-centered. I’m all about rescuing the souls of men. You should be as well. The gospel is the power of God that leads to salvation, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. Romans 1:16. I’m sorry, I just can’t find particular redemption in that verse. I will not waste my time on a theology that believes God’s power to save is limited, as well as His atonement.

Luke 8:12 is where the debate ends. I have written in the margin of my Bible: “Reformed theology, born 396 AD (Augustine). Died, Luke 8:12.”

Jesus tells you in cogent terms why some remain lost in sin. It tells you the exact reason some will indeed perish, despite God’s spreading of the precious gospel seed. It’s because the “devil comes and snatches the seed away LEST THEY SHOULD BELIEVE AND BE SAVED.” God’s providence has nothing to do with it. It’s time we stopped blaming God for the work of Satan. Surely we can agree to that.

Calvinist have said it is only by the mercy of God if he chooses to elect only one person to be saved in a span of 100 years, But have you ever heard a Calvinist preacher say, ”God has revealed to me, that I’m am not of the elect.”